


A Blue Christmas

by Superhero_Wannabe



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Modern Era, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 20:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17168669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superhero_Wannabe/pseuds/Superhero_Wannabe
Summary: Albert is having a rough Christmas and decides to head back to his apartment for the night. What he's expecting to find is an empty flat and a warm bed calling his name. What he finds instead is his roommate?





	A Blue Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling bummed out and I wanted to write, but I wasn't sure what. My friend suggested Almer, so this is for her! She's backgroundnewsies on Tumblr and her account is wicked! Go check her out!  
> Anyways, I'm projecting, it's 12:48 am, and I've never written Almer. Let's go, boys.

Albert couldn't handle it for one more second. He stood up abruptly from the table, shoved his feet into his snow boots, threw on his winter coat, and slammed the door behind him. It seemed like no matter what the occasion was, something had to go wrong with his family. Any holiday or birthday they celebrated just never seemed to pass without incident. And of course he knew that every family had their problems, but emotions ran high every. single. time. He honestly couldn't remember the last time they'd had some kind of special get together and everything had just gone smoothly.

Tonight was just another one of those times, only now, it was Christmas. He shared an apartment with his friend Elmer where they lived not far from their parents, but also close to the local university they attended. They were on Winter Break at the moment, and both had decided to go see their family for the holidays. Albert frowned, feeling his jaw tighten and his eyebrows furrow together from anger. Wasn't this supposed to be some sort of magical time of year or something? Whatever was supposed to happen around this time though hadn't happened in a long while. Whatever "magic" people talked about didn't happen. Yeah, he liked seeing his family and all, but it didn't feel like he really got excited for the holiday anymore.

He sighed, starting to feel more numb than angry. He wasn't sure if it was from the cold seeping into his bones, or the painful feeling of knowing how often this really occurred. He shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his heavy winter coat that he grabbed in his rush to get out the door. He breathed out, enjoying the sight of his breath swirling into the dark sky. Eventually reaching his apartment, he felt completely numb and he was more than ready to just curl up under some blankets and go to bed. Fumbling to get his keys out of his pants pocket, he manages to shove them into the door. He stumbles his way inside, quickly closing the door behind him as he kicks off his boots and setting them on the shoe rack by the door. He shrugged his coat off, setting his keys in the pocket, before realizing the lights were already on further down the hall.

"Elmer?" He calls out, confusion evident in his tone. He was supposed to be home for Christmas.

"Albert?" He gets an answer back that sounds just as confused as he feels. He heads towards the living room, deciding to check there first because he's not sure which room his voice is coming from. He turns into the doorway, seeing Elmer piled under blankets and curled up on the couch. He's holding a mug and something is paused on the TV.

"What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be visiting your family?" Albert asks him, completely baffled at this point.  
Elmer lets out a light chuckle. Fuck. It was like he'd forgotten how cute his roommate was while he'd been visiting family.

"I could ask you the same thing, Al." Elmer has a small smile on his face now.  
Albert huffs and rolls his eyes, playfully. He crosses his arms over his chest and plops down on the other end of the couch. He curls in on himself a little bit, the emotions from earlier washing over him. He didn't want to talk about it much, but Elmer was kind and understanding. He could at least offer him a response.

"I uh... Couldn't stand it. So I left. Seems like we can't even have one normal holiday, y'know?" He stares down at the floor as he lets out a quiet laugh. He feels the need to talk more than he did a moment ago and he sighs.  
"I was hoping for just one normal holiday after a shitty quarter at school." He shrugs before looking over at Elmer. Maybe if he played it off, the situation would feel less real and he could forget about it.  
"What about you? What's your excuse? Hopefully nothing bad."

Elmer shrugs back, a smile on his face. "It's nothing, really. Just, uh, my family vacationed somewhere without telling me. They must've forgotten, seeing as how it's only Mom and Dad in the house now. But yeah, when I showed up at the house, no one was there. The rest of my brothers and sisters all said they were doing their own thing when I called them, so I decided to come back here."

Albert feels his expression drop as a knot of anger starts to form in his stomach. Elmer deserved the world. Elmer deserved to be loved. Elmer did NOT deserve to be forgotten.

"Oh, El. I'm so sorry." He manages out as he scoots across the couch to sit next to Elmer. He really didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, so instead, Albert holds his arms out to ask a silent question. He hopes it's a yes because he knows that he could sure use a hug right now. Elmer chuckles softly and shakes his head.

"I'm fine, really." His actions contradict his words though, because he leans in for a hug anyways, wrapping his arms around Albert's waist as Albert wraps his arms around Elmer's shoulders. They sit in silence for a moment, Albert slowly rubbing his hand up and down Elmer's back, basking in the affection they both knew they needed, but hadn't wanted to admit to.

"You said you had a shitty quarter on top of a shitty Christmas. Do you wanna talk about it?" Elmer breaks the silence, voice slightly muffled by where his head is resting on Albert's shoulder. Albert sighs, finally feeling the affects of the day starting to weigh on him, his eyelids growing heavy with both physical and mental exhaustion.

"I just felt kinda bad all quarter, y'know? I messed up my sleep schedule real bad, which I know is my fault, but that made me tired all the time. I just felt extra swamped with homework too and I just... I felt kinda lonely. And I had you, don't get me wrong. That was rad, but it seemed like everyone's schedules didn't really line up this quarter."  
Elmer let out a low hum to show he was listening and Albert appreciated it. He knew he was rambling by this point, but it felt so nice to just finally talk about it and get it out of his system.

"And I've been having some family issues, so that sucked. I haven't been going to the gym as much as I've been wanting to, plus I've had to deal with the stupid crush I have on-" He quickly cuts himself off, his foggy brain alert enough to realize that, fuck. He was just about to up and tell Elmer he had a crush on him. Elmer pulls back enough to look Albert in the eyes.

"You have a crush on someone?"

Albert quickly glances to the side before cautiously making eye contact. Okay, play it cool. "Yeah, it's not too big a deal though."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Elmer has a smile on his face again and honestly, Albert is swimming in some seriously uncharted waters right now. He can't read the other boys' expression for the life of him.

"Uhhhh because I couldn't." Wow. Fucking eloquent. Really nailed that, pal.

Elmer was not having it. "Because...? Because why?" He quirks an eyebrow, clearly curious and waiting for him to elaborate. Albert's mouth reacts before he does.

"Oh for fucks sake, El. It's because YOU'RE my crush."

A beat of silence hangs in the air between them. Albert's eyes widen suddenly with realization and he can see his own expression mirrored back at him.

Fuck.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

"Oh my god, El, I'm so so sorry. I can leave let me just get my stuff and I'll" He continues to ramble on, speech running together as it races to leave his mouth, competing with the blush on his face for which one felt more embarrassed. He tries to scoot backwards and away from Elmer, but he tightens his grip around his waist and WOW he is so much stronger than he thought? Noticing he won't be able to get away like he'd been hoping, he settles for leaning as far away from Elmer as he can manage, his hands pressed firmly to his face.

"Fuck, El, I'm so sorry."

And he's... Laughing?

Albert peeks between his fingers, still mortified.

Yup, that asshole is laughing at you. The nerve of this guy.

He slowly lowers his hands as Elmer speaks. "You don't need to be sorry, Albert, really! Do you know how long I've waited for you to say that?"

"... What?" Albert couldn't believe a single word he was hearing.

"Yeah! I was actually planning on confessing myself, but every time I tried, I got too scared and backed out." Elmer was smiling so wide Albert was worried it was going to hurt his face. Albert, on the other hand, was probably gaping like a fish.

"You're kidding me, right?" This had to be some kind of joke.

Elmer lets out a laugh before removing his arms from Albert's waist, opting to cup his face instead, pulling him in for a kiss. Albert couldn't believe any of this was even real. He was finally kissing one of the sweetest guys on the planet, wow. And just like that, it was over. Elmer had pulled away and Albert was wearing the same goofy grin that he was.

"Do you think I'm kidding now?"

"I'd give some kind of clever response if I could, but I'll just stick with I really hope not."

Elmer throws his head back in a loud laugh and leans into the back of the couch. He picks up the TV remote in one hand and holds the other out to Albert, inviting him over.

"I'm not. Promise. Now what do you say to some bad movies and cuddles?"

Albert smiles and moves over to rest himself against Elmer's side, burrowing under the blankets next to him.

"I say hell yeah. That sounds awesome."

Elmer leans down and kisses his temple. "Good. Can't have my boyfriend's shitty quarter continue, right?"

"Boyfriend, huh?" He looks up at Elmer with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

Elmer shrugs innocently. "You have a problem with it?"

"No, no, not in the slightest. Just thinking that this Christmas might turn out okay after all."


End file.
